The local synod of the Metropolis of Transylvania announced the two nominees for the next bishop of the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara.
The nominees are: His Grace Assistant Bishop Nestor of Hunedoara and Archimandrite Gherontie Ciupe, administrative vicar.
The Metropolitan Synod of Transylvania met for a working session at the metropolitan residence in Sibiu on Saturday, December 4, 2021. His Eminence Metropolitan Laurentiu of Transylvania, also locum tenens of the Diocese of Deva, chaired the meeting.
Participants included Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia, Bishop Sofronie of Oradea, Bishop Andrei of Covasna and Harghita, Sibiu’s Assistant Bishop Ilarion of Fagaras, and Deva’s Assistant Bishop Nestor of Hunedoara.
According to the Statute for the Organization and Functioning of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the nominees were presented to the extended Diocesan Assembly of the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara, meeting on the same day at “Metropolitan Ioan Meţianu” Hall of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology “Saint Andrew Saguna” in Sibiu.
During the Diocesan Assembly, Metropolitan Laurenţiu evoked the personality of the late Bishop Gurie Georgiu, pointing to his pastoral-missionary, cultural-educational and social-philanthropic work.
“We admired the missionary work of His Grace Bishop Gurie and often asked him how it was possible to accomplish so many beautiful things in the newly established Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara. His Grace Bishop Gurie always answered me that only through the mercy of God all things were fulfilled,” Metropolitan Laurențiu noted.
“God also works through those ordained to be with the hierarch, and we are confident that God will reward them beyond, in eternal life, remaining for all of us an example of life and pastoral mission,” the metropolitan added.
The members of the Diocesan Assembly of Deva and Hunedoara voted unanimously for the two nominees.
His Grace Nestor of Hunedoara is the second youngest hierarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, after Assistant Bishop Benedict of Bistrita of the Cluj Archdiocese.
He was born in 1983 in Craiova and studied theology in his home city. He has a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Religions from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Alba Iulia.
He was ordained to the diaconate in 2007 and tonsured a monk in 2009. In 2011 he was ordained a hieromonk and protosyncellus, and in 2014 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
Between 2018 and 2021, he was administrative vicar of the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara. He was elected assistant bishop earlier this year.
The Very Reverend Archimandrite Gherontie Ciupe is the current administrative vicar of the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church established the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara during its meeting of June 18-19, 2009. In the same year, His Grace Bishop Gurie was elected as its first archpastor. He reposed in the Lord on October 21, 2021.
Photography courtesy of the Metropolis of Transylvania
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